Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-03-20

A KewaraF strtp "a she Bsrsaer % BE
Turaea fnss Gtm@nFeu Terrassry-
Freu tia So. L0sfs GEo5s D<mOcvaf-
mo Man's Land . it 10 designated
upou some Of the ofEeial maps, . the
oslv portion Of tbs territory OF tne
Uaited States which 10 without l2U. Tie
900 squatssrs Bou living on TIE Ns1-
ira esrlpr propose 20 organ zs govern
msns there and call the nev Terriiofy
.4Clnmaron.D THIS body 81 land lies
wesf Of Indian Territory, AID its SHAPE,
- IL appears on the map. shows thaf the
term strip" Il we'll applied Is has
with Of 37L miles between the noFtn.
err AoaDdAry of Texas and toe southern
bo0ndaTles Of Kansas and Colorado,
and reaches westward 16T miles 20 ste
eastern line Of New Mexico. me Mans
Land" locks insigsincAst on the map a.
il In With such States as Kansas Col
orad0 and Texas fer neiRhboFs. II
located on the Atlantic coast is dlmen
sions would appear gate rsspecsseie
be sids some Of the Eastern ctzt :.
The history Of this strip - interesting
To ISc6 the URIted States bo1gbt from
France for SIS 10000 Louisiana Tern
tory. That Wss the country vest OF the
Mississippi river fFsm the Gulf 70 the
But SD possessions-inciudIn tee pres
ent states Of Louisiana, Arkansas, thai
part of Kansas and Colorado notth OF
the Arkansas river only, and The lnalsn
1errHoFy west to she lOO meridian.
Mexico and Spain claimed all west OF
tbs 10th meridian ard south OF the
Arkansas. In 1888 the Indian Territory
w.s organized and set apart Tor sfe IL
- -. 80
Iu 1S45 Texas s'set up for herself -
free and Independents republic, ard then
came under the protection Of the United
states. The war with Mexico followed
Al q resulted in the extension OF tie ter
= tory Of the United States vest OF the
l00th meridian and south Of the ArkAn-
sas. Texas ss State emily claimed ire
northern boundary OF the Panhandle on
the parallel of $3.50. In 1850 the kaz-
sas and Nebraska bill passed CONGRESS,
and as first framed made IS 30 she
southern boundary Of Kansas, bat
Stephen A. Douglass, then Ia the Hsnse,
called attention 10 the treaty With che
Oterokees Of 1s33. which gave them
snip of land along the aouth side Of the
37th parallel aRd running from the his
scum line to the 100 meridian
Il may be as well to say that the rea-
son for setting apart this stFiR was 10
give the indians route westward 10
the buffalo hunIiDg RE5ands Of Oo30Ea-
do and the Northwest. This strlp 10
still called the outlet" As stated, Il
extended to ste l00sh meridian. So
parallel 81 was made { g soatheFR
boundary of K nsas, and when she
100lh meridian wss reached the bound
airy was continual on the same parallel
westward. Thus ''tha Cherokee outlet"
was preserved, aud there was left west
OF IL q continuation OF it, or another
strip, between Texas and Kansas. aud
this second piece was gives the name
of 1.-THE neatral strip" or no msn's
land" New Mexico and Colorado VerS
afterWaTd formed with square corners,
and thus "the neatFal strip" was left
with fully defined boundaries, bat en-
tireIy t in the cold so far as the laws
of the United States are concerned.
So long as the Great AmsFican Desert
held its place on the map and the trg-
dition of ats after WorthIsssness pre-
vailed. me Mau's Land" Was We
osmed. The Indians and the wild
game had undisputed and upcoveted
o session. When suddenly she South
west m county aweke to the fact that
res meant cents snd then dollars,
there were Iut IN rival claims to this bit
Of property l67 miles IsnR. Congress
has never been able 10 decide between
he claimants, and SO the strip has re-
manned undispossa of to this day. A
days ago an agent of the General
l. nd Office went into that country to
investigate and report. He came baes
wi the Information that the catt g
rons had taken possession, divided up
tbs country, and were pas uring their
herds upon the lard. There we're no
fesees, ne reported, bot he could always
tell when be CROSSED from one claim to
another, for he f. ind the lines marked
by posts, on which were printed placards
bearing the following:
''iake N0tice.-Ane - Of 8 -
caught trespassing on this land will be
dealt with by JsdRe Lynch. By order
of -"